The use of grounding contacts on axles of rail vehicles, particularly electrically driven rail vehicles, is standard. They are used for transmitting electrical currents to a rail via an axle of a wheelset. Known grounding contacts are commonly disposed on an axle on one axial side thereof, and are connected non-rotatably to an axle bracket of the rail vehicle but rotatably relative to the axial side. The grounding contact includes a housing with a housing lid or housing cover constructed in the manner of a flange and disposed on the axial side, wherein graphite contact elements are contacted with the axle and corresponding collector rings or discs inside the housing for transmitting a current.
It is further known to attach a sensor device or a flange-like sensor housing to the housing cover. The housing cover then has an opening through which for example a rotary encoder of the sensor device is able to acquire signals generated by the rotation of an axle. These signals are forwarded via a cable to a vehicle controller that generates operating parameters therefrom, such an axle rotating speed, pulses for a motor controller or brake system, and so forth. This means that the sensor only transmits one signal or channel to the vehicle controller, and the controller processes the signal further for controlling purposes.
Manufacturers of rail vehicles use different signal structures for their various vehicle controllers, in terms of amplitude, frequency, pulse etc. Additionally, each rail network system also requires signals to be adapted to the respective rail network system to enable interaction with a rail vehicle. For example, in order to ensure that a rail vehicle is operable on the rail network systems of two different countries, it must be equipped with sensor devices that are capable of providing the necessary signals. This means that a first grounding contact must be equipped with a sensor or signal output device for a first rail network system, and a second grounding contact must be equipped with a sensor or signal output device for a second rail network system. Accordingly, if the rail vehicle is to be used on a different system it must undergo extensive conversion work, including the replacement or addition of sensor devices. In addition, the necessary sensor devices also differ from one rail vehicle manufacturer to another. A grounding contact manufacturer must therefore provide a large number of sensor devices for a single grounding contact. As a result, both the manufacture of grounding contacts and the process of using rail vehicles in different systems are associated with high costs.